


Dreams Come True

by Ketita



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Genie/Djinn, Gen, Humor, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-07
Updated: 2014-08-07
Packaged: 2018-02-12 05:49:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,875
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2097984
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ketita/pseuds/Ketita
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A black-haired, scruffy (but clean!) street rat finds an extremely suspicious talking lamp that seems to want to be touched. No, that's not a euphemism.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Dreams Come True

**Author's Note:**

> Written per Vizodi's request - who promptly went and [drew Eren](http://vizodi.tumblr.com/post/88672929512/remember-when-i-said-i-would-work-on-eruriren-week) so that we should all be able to appreciate the tacky.

So long had passed since last time anybody had come near his lamp that it took Eren a few precious moments to realize that in fact, a human was nearby.

It wasn’t that Eren enjoyed granting wishes, but it had been some hundred-odd years since his last master and hey, even genies get bored. So he waited with some excitement to see what his new master would be like. He already looked interesting – dark and tattered, some kind of street rat, but with sharp eyes and carrying several concealed knives.

The only problem was that, having stumbled into Eren’s grotto, the young man had given the lamp barely a glance. He had come searching for shelter from the rain outside – rare in the desert, but all the more brutal for it – and now contented himself with settling in the corner to gloomily drip dry.

Eren frowned to himself. Seriously, he had tried to be as obvious as possible. The lamp was on a fucking _pedestal_ in the middle of the room, conveniently lit by the glow of moonbeams. It should be the most tempting thing ever.

And the guy was just grumbling to himself and looking like he wanted to sleep.

He wasn’t supposed to, he knew, but hell if he was going to let this chance pass by.

“Hey,” Eren said.

The young man jumped.

“Here, in the lamp.”

“I think I’m hallucinating,” he muttered.

“You’re not,” Eren said. “I’m talking to you from inside the lamp.”

“Talking lamps are _not_ normal.”

“I’m not a lamp, I’m _inside_ it.” Did nobody tell stories about genies anymore?

“Yeah, well, you have fun in there. Pipe down, I want to get some sleep.” And he settled against the wall again and closed his eyes.

If only Eren could tell him he was a genie, but that was against the rules. “Why don’t you come touch the lamp?” he said persuasively.

The dark-haired youth opened one eye. “Is that a euphemism?”

“No!” Eren wanted to tear out his hair. “It’ll be worth it, I swear!”

Both grey eyes opened. He eyed the lamp suspiciously. “No way in hell. How many guys have you solicited for your lamp-touching deal? I am not putting my hands where their grubby paws have been.”

Well, there _had_ been others before, but- “My lamp isn’t that dirty,” Eren protested.

The young man shifted uncomfortably. “Look-“

“Please!” What was the world coming to, seriously? Armin and Mikasa would laugh at him forever when they found out (literally forever; genies lived a long time).

“Tch, fine. If you insist.” The young man got up and shuffled over to the pedestal, and gave the lamp an extremely skeptical look. When he reached out, he wrapped the corner of his cloak over his hand, keeping a layer of the fabric between him and the metal. He was supposed to actually touch it, Eren knew, but hell. Good enough.

With a sigh of relief, he streamed out of the spout in a shower of sparks.

\----

  
Giving the I-am-a-genie speech would have been easier if his new master – whose name was Levi, he found out – didn’t persist in interrupting every second. He didn’t want to be called ‘Master’, can’t Eren use less pompous phrases we’re not in the Middle Ages, why does Eren look fifteen, etc. But eventually he got to the end and waited expectantly to hear what Levi would ask for. Many of Eren’s previous masters had been either assholes or starry-eyed do-gooders (but mostly assholes, or at least, turned into assholes once they realized what Eren could provide), but he had a hunch that Levi would be different. He looked interesting.

Well, right now he mostly looked skeptical. “Any wish?” Levi asked.

“Well, aside from massive reality-bending and resurrection, basically.”

Levi’s face fell at that, though he got his expression under control quickly. “So I could be filthy rich, if I wanted? I could have superpowers?”

“Yes,” Eren said, slightly disappointed by how pedestrian the ideas were. He’d been sure Levi would come up with something creative. Still, Levi hadn’t made any wishes yet. Instead, he was pacing around Eren, taking in the flashy costume (of course Eren could dress however he wanted, but he’d found that people had _expectations_ from genies. Expectations that involved curly-toed slippers, bare chests in colorful vests, billowy pants, and lots of jewelry) with a slight raised eyebrow. Then he looked back at the grubby lamp, lifted the top to peek inside.

“And you’re stuck living in here in between wishers?” he asked. “It’s even grosser inside than out.”

“It’s not that bad,” Eren said, cheerful because nobody liked a whiny genie. “Besides, I’m not actually physically there, it’s like a kind of pocket universe, quite roomy. I could show you.”

Levi shook his head quickly. “I’ll take your word for it. I live on the streets, I’ve seen my share of crappy lodgings, don’t need to see yours, too.”

That explained the interest in money, Eren thought. Levi looked poor – tattered clothes, visible cheekbones, wrists thin but muscled. A noise from outside made Levi get up to peek out the entrance to the cave, but not much was visible in the downpour. Eren mostly paid attention to how he walked, sure and soft-footed, his movements economical and dangerous.

“Are you being chased?” he asked. “I could help with that.”

Levi sighed as he came back in and sat back down. “It’s complicated,” he said grudgingly. “I’m not sure which wish would fix the situation. I need to think about it.”

Eren sat down next to him, because despite his grumpy exterior something about him spoke of loneliness, and indeed, he didn’t seem to mind Eren’s proximity. He’d noticed that with other masters – they tended to confide in him, since he wasn’t human and was under their control.

“I’ve never really wished for stuff before,” Levi admitted. “I never saw the point.” He fell silent then, eyebrows in a deep groove as he thought. “I guess being stronger would help. Strongest. Can I wish for that?”

“Yeah. Is that your first wish?”

Levi hesitated. “I guess it would be smarter to wait and think. But if those guys get here… better wish now, I guess. Yeah. I wish to be the strongest in the world.”

Eren could have given him a lecture and a half on vague wishing, because while he clearly knew what Levi _meant_ he could have fucked it up so hard if he wanted to. One of the prerogatives of being a genie. But something in the kind of sad-hopeful way Levi was looking at him, like he didn’t really believe anything good would happen to him, made Eren want to do it properly.

He’d probably turn out to be an asshole, like all the others. Probably end up a tyrant. Still… Eren’s stalling window was almost up, so he let his magic free. It burst from him in a cloud of shimmering green that enveloped Levi and soaked into him. Levi blinked owlishly, sneezed, then inspected his arms, which were quite a bit more muscled than before.

“Huh.” He looked up at Eren. “I don’t feel much different.” He then eyed the pedestal thoughtfully.

“It’s not superhuman strength,” Eren felt compelled to point out, just a bit apologetic. He’d probably lose against solid rock. “You didn’t ask for that.”

“S’ok. This is good, I guess.” Levi stood up and bounced around, tried a few push-ups and clearly found them pleasingly easy to do. “I could have used this when…” he trailed off, then looked at Eren hopefully. “Can I turn back time?”

“Sorry,” Eren said. “Can’t change reality that much.”

Levi sat back down next to him, looking a bit more melancholy than before. “Figures. Shit stays shit.”

They sat in silence for a few moments, while Levi turned the lamp over and over in his hands. “So you stay in this thing until somebody fondles it?”

Eren rolled his eyes and huffed.

“Being stuck forever in a tiny-ass lamp must suck. At least I can leave the sewers if I want to.”

Seriously, could they drop the topic? They’d gotten to the freedom talks way faster than normal – hell, some masters never got to it at all – and he really didn’t want to have this conversation. He’d quit hoping long ago. Three wishes were never enough, so who would squander one on him?

“Those are the rules for us,” he said, hoping Levi would leave it alone.

“But do you _want_ to stay in the lamp?”

“It doesn’t matter,” Eren snapped. Levi went silent, eyes narrowed. Eren only hoped Levi wouldn’t order him back into the lamp. He’d barely been out ten minutes this time. Fuck it, Armin was so much better at playing the cheerful genie than he was. Hell, even Mikasa’s deadpan worked for her. Eren just got angry and pissed people off.

“Well, that’s an easy wish for now,” Levi announced. “At least one of our lives shouldn’t suck. I wish for you to be free.”

“Wait!” Eren had time to blurt before the magic started pouring out of him in a torrent. He couldn’t have stopped it even if he wanted, because genies can’t choose which wishes to grant. It went on forever, shattering tethers he didn’t even know bound him. He was dimly aware that he was putting on a whole frigging light show, floating in the middle of the room, green light everywhere, sourceless wind whipping his clothes and hair into a frenzy.

He only just managed to not fall on his ass upon landing. Levi watched him, the only sign of surprise his slightly widened eyes.

“’Wait’,” Levi repeated, hesitant. “Did I fuck up?”

“No,” Eren said, and his eyes filled with unexpected tears at the shock of it all. He tried not to sob too obviously, and was mortified when Levi came over to pat him awkwardly on the back and give an extremely halfhearted “there, there”.

“But you had another wish!” Eren blurted when he had himself under some bit of control. He felt strange, oddly heavy and solid in a way he had never experienced before.

“Oh.” Levi’s face fell a bit. “You can’t grant it now, I guess…”

“My magic is mostly gone.” He was vulnerable now. The thought was both exciting and terrifying.

The sounds of pursuit from outside had returned, apparently alerted by Eren’s dramatic performance.

“Never mind it now,” Levi said stoically, hiding his disappointment. “We’re about to have company. Get back.” He moved forward, as if to protect Eren from whatever was heading towards them.

“I’ll fight with you,” Eren announced, an idea suddenly sparking. “I can’t grant your wishes, but I’ll fight by your side until your dreams come true!”

A look of revulsion passed over Levi’s face. “Dreams come true? Did you just say that? That is the sappiest thing I’ve heard in my life.” But he was also kind of blushing. It was adorable. He made up for it by waving an annoyed arm at Eren. “Look at you, nobody will take you seriously wearing that shit.”

“I can transform into a fifteen meter giant,” Eren said helpfully. The annoyance abruptly swept off Levi’s face.

“Not bad.”


End file.
